Bengals win AFC North in Peter King's season projections

NFL predictions are all over the place for the Cincinnati Bengals, though one could find a consistent theme — the playoffs aren’t likely, but close to .500 is.

Except for Peter King.

Over at Pro Football Talk, King’s 2018 season projections has the Bengals winning the AFC North, earning a fourth seed in the playoffs — while the Pittsburgh Steelers have the fifth seed.

King has Geno Atkins pulling in individual awards:

Defensive player: Geno Atkins, defensive tackle, Cincinnati. Surprising win over the two mega-money guys, Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack. But Atkins will get a huge hand from Carlos Dunlap and Andrew Billings on the defensive front. The Bengals will win the division with this front, and Atkins will lead the way.

An award for Atkins isn’t hard to believe. The line around him is only getting better with Andrew Billings healthy and Sam Hubbard added to a rotation already featuring Carlos Dunlap and Carl Lawson.

The actual AFC North projection is a tougher sell, though few would disagree the Bengals have the talent. King doesn’t have the Bengals in the AFC title game, but giving the Bengals another divisional crown is brave enough.

At the end of the day, it’s easy to see which set of projections Bengals fans will like the most.